Police hunt for Letsoepa

MASERU – POLICE Commissioner Molahlehi Letsoepa is on the run and the government is giving chase, thepost can reveal.
Foreign Affairs Minister Lesego Makhothi confirmed last night that they have joined hands with the South African Police in the search for the commissioner.

Avoiding being specific on what crimes Letsoepa could have committed, Makgothi said “he has some issues he has to answer”.
Makgothi however said they have been tipped off that Letsoepa could be somewhere between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
He also said they heard that he has been harboured by one of the staff members at the Lesotho Consulate in Durban.
Makgothi said they have also been tipped off that one of the politicians who fled the country is staying in Pretoria at the Lesotho consulate premises.
“These are just the tips. Investigations are still in progress,” he said.

But the minister could not reveal who that politician is. He said his ministry is working with its counterpart in South Africa to arrest Letsoepa and bring him back home. “We are not after him but there are some issues we want him about,” Makgothi said.
Lesotho’s Consular General in Durban, Ratokelo Nkoka, said it is not true that Letsoepa is hiding in their premises.

He said they have heard minister Makgothi on state radio during morning programme on Monday saying that Letsoepa is in Durban in their office.
Nkoka said they have also heard him on state television yesterday morning maintaining that Letsoepa is with them.
Nkoka said he had last spoken to Letsoepa early July when he phoned him saying he was going to Durban on official duty but he never showed up.
This, Nkoka said, was before Letsoepa could be sent to a 90-day forced leave.

Prime Minister Thomas Thabane sent Letsoepa on leave shortly after being inaugurated as the premier.
“That was the last time that I spoke to him. We have never spoken since then,” Nkoka said.
He said they could not risk their jobs by keeping someone that they know is wanted.

Asked how they knew that Letsoepa is wanted, Nkoka said the local newspapers are awash about the issue.
He said they have written to their Principal Secretary (PS) to inform him about the minister’s allegations.
The letter is expected to reach the PS today.

He said they were expecting the PS to ask them if there was anything of that sort so that they could clear their names.
Police spokesman Inspector Mpiti Mopeli has in the past denied that they were looking for Letsoepa.
But sources close to the matter said the police want Letsoepa to give his side of the story as the commissioner about the disappearance and murder of Police Constable Mokalakale Khetheng.

Nkoka said they are not aware if Letsoepa ever came to Durban.
He said their offices have guards to whom all visitors have to report.
“We are civil servants and we cannot stay with a person who is being hunted,” Nkoka said.
Efforts to contact Letsoepa on his mobile phone were not successful.

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